Lettering instrument



I June D M. DUNNING. JR

LETTERING INSTRUMENT Filed July 19, 1927 ATTORNEY.

I VENTO Patented June 4, 1929.

UNITED DAVID M. DUNNI N QJR, or AUBURN, new YORK,

LETTERING INSTRUMENT.

Application filed July 19, 1927. Serial N0. 206,997.

This invention relates to certain improvements in lettering instruments; and the nature and objects of the invention will be readily recognized and understood by those skilled in the arts involved in the light of the following explanation and detailed description of the accompanying drawings illustrating what I at present consider to be the preferred embodiments or mechanical expressions of my invention from among various other forms, arrangements, combinations, and constructions of which the invention .is capable within'the spirit and the vscope thereof. 7

In drawing, drafting and the like kinds of work, well as in various ofjthe arts, it is necessary to form or apply lettering, symbols, or'other characters and designs on and to the work, which is generally accomplishedby either free hand drawing with the use of guide lines or markings first formed on the work, or by the employment of the common or conventional drawing implements, such as straight edges, rulers and the like, in the formation of the characters or symbols. These and similar methods of forming or applying letters or other symbols and characters require the expenditure of a considerable amount of time and labor with frequent inaccuracies and lack of uniformity in the re-, sults obtained, and the present invention is directed to and holds a general object, the material reduction in the time and labor re quired for lettering and forming other characters and symbols on the surfaces of various kinds of work, as well as the insurance of accuracy in spacing and positioning, and the complete'or desired uniformity of the characters, symbols or design so formed and applied.

As a -main and fundamental aim and object, the invention holds the provision of an instrument for use in forming or applying letters, or other characters and symbols, on and to drawings or the surfaces of other types and classes of work, which instrument embodies a flexible and transparent plate or strip having patterns or guides for a stylus thereon in the form of the characters desired, by which such characters can be formed on the desired surface through'interposition of a transfer medium such as carbon paper, between the instrument and the surface, and then moving a stylus in the patterns or guides under pressure; and further to provide guide lines and space scales on the instrument by which the desired characters can be accurately located and properly spaced on the surface fer medium. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a letter or character forming instrument in the form of a platev or strip of resilient, yielding and transparent material having guide grooves or depressions therein in the form of thedesired characters to receive a stylus and to transmit the stylus pressure to a transfer medium on which the instrument is placed so as to'form characters from the transfer medium which willbe eXact,"clear cut and properly defined reproductions of the instrument characters. 7 i

Afurther object of the invention resides in the provision of a simple, inexpensive'and readily manufactured instrument for forming'characters on a surface from a transfer medium on which the instrument is placed, by moving a stylus underpressure through character defining grooves or depressions in the instrument, and further to provide such an instrument in the form of a plate or strip of flexible transparent material having yielding or elastic characteristics with the grooves pressed, died, or otherwise formed therein and visually-distinguished from the body of the instrument, with guide lines for the characters, as well as scales by which the same may be properly spaced or j ustified-when lettering, formed on the body of the instrument in proper relation with respectto the character grooves. i

With the foregoing general objects and certain other aims and ob ects in view which w1ll be readily recognized and understood from the following explanation, the invention consists in certain novel features in construction and in'combinatien and arrangement of elements forming the same, as will be more fully and particularly referred to and spec fied hereinafter,

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several figures thereof:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument embodying features'of the invention, in position on a drawing such as a map, for forming or apply letters thereto, and showing a stylus applied to and in the groove or depression of one of the pat-tern letters of the instrument.

Fig. 2, is a detail vertical section through a portion of the body or card. of the instrument of Fig. 1 to show the formation of the pattern or guide depressions thereon, and to further show the action of a stylus in a groove.

Fig. 3, is a detail vertical section through the body of an instrument having a modified form of guide groove or depression for the stylus.

Fig. 4, is a detail perspective view of a portion of the body of the instrument showing the letter or character defining grooves or depressions formed translucent or contrasted in color to the body or card of the instrument.

Fig. 5, is a detail perspective View of one end portion of the instrument of Fig. 1.

A form of invention peculiarly adapted for drafting or drawing use to apply and form letters and figures on drawings, maps, plans and such like, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, purely by way of example and not of limitation, for the purpose of explaining the principles and various features of the invention. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the principles and features of the invention are subject to adaptation and embodiment ina variety of other forms and for an unlimited range of uses in the arts generally where it may be desired to form or apply characters, symbols or designs to surfaces of whatever nature or character, and the present invention contemplates and includes such other forms and embodiments.

According to the invention as presented by the selected example hereof, a lettering or drawing instrument includes the base or card 10 formed of a transparent and flexible material having the characteristic of yielding or giving at a point where pressure is applied thereto, that is what may be termed a degree of elasticity such as presented by certain grades or forms of pyroxylin or celluloid, although the invention is in no sense limited tothesespecific materials, as any other material having the desired qualities and characteristics, or some of them, can be employed. This body or card 10 of the instrument is in the present instance formed of a strip or sheet of relatively thin, for example, pyroxylin or celluloid, rectangular in shape and having the series of spaced parallel, transverse (vertical) lines 11, and the series of spaced,

ticular.

A basic feature of the invention consists in the formation in and on the transparent base or card 10, of the desired character,

' symbol, or design, or a. series thereof, in the form of grooves or depressions 14, which in the form of Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, are made by pressing or stamping the base or card with dies or the like, to form the character or design depressed on the upper side of the card and correspondingly emboss or project the character or design on the opposite or under side of the card, which then takes the form of the ridges or projections 15, as clearly shown in exaggerated or magnified form in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. In the formation of the grooves or depressions 14 and the corresponding projections or embossed characters 15, the inner or lower, wall 16 (See Fig. 2) is of a slightly less thickness than thatof the side walls of the grooves'or depressions 14 and the body of the card 10, in order to produce a maximum of flexibility or yield to these bottom or lower walls 16, as will be referred to and explained hereinafter. However, the invention is not limited to such formation of the bottom walls 15, as if desired they may be of the same thickness, or approximately so, as the side walls and/or the body of the base or card 10, the essential. feature for maximum efficiency being a degree of yield or flexibility in the groove lower or bottom walls 16 to give and transmit pres.- sure applied thereto.

In the embodiment of the instrument of Fig. 1' adapted for lettering drawings andthe like, a series of character defining and forming depressions 14 and corresponding pro,- jections 15,.f0rmed as above described, are provided in the blocks or spaces between the intersecting lines 11 and 12, in the specific instance hereof providing the letters of the alphabet with numerals and other symbals may be required for lettering and numbering work, indicated generally by the reference numeral 17 on the drawings. Each letter or symbol 17 is formed on and in the card 10 within one of the blocks or spaces provided by the intersecting lines 11 and 12, and is definitely disposed therein in position ad.- jacent and with one side of the letter or symbol at or on a transverse (vertical) line 11, and the bottom of the letter on and along the lower longitudinal (horizontal) line 12 of the block or space within which the symbol is formed. Thus, the lines 11 and 12 form and provide markings or guide lines by which a ym o 17 a be proper y positioned and located on a drawing, through the trans bolspacing or justification in lettering to .form wordsor a serles of symbols, scales 19 are provided along the straight edges 18 of the base or card 10, between the letters or symbols 17 adjacent such edges, respectively. These scales 19 divide the spaces between the symbols, and in the case of letters, as in the instant example, are preferably so arranged as to accord with typographical spacing as used in the printing art, the letters themselves being given their true typographical width which is indicated by the end lines of scales 19 formed of greater length than the interme diate lines of the scales, although the inven tion is not limited to such arrangement of the space scales 19 and the dimensions of the let ters or symbols. For the purpose of securing a visual impression of the characters to be formed with the card 10 in position on a drawing, the bottom or lower walls 16, and if desired the side walls, of the character defining grooves'or depresisons 16 can be formed translucent or opaque to contrast with the body of card 10, or as diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings, these groove walls can be colored, say black, as by printing or painting the same or in any other suitable or desired manner. When so formed or treated with the transparent card 10 placed on a drawing, the character defining depressions or grooves thereof will show up as the characters will appear which are formed therefrom on the drawing, thus materially aiding in the proper positioning and forming of the characters.

With a drawing or lettering instrument of the invention as above described, referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings in particular, the operation of forming or applying letters or symbols to a drawing, such as the map M more or less diagrammatically shown, will now be described and explained. The instrument provided by the flexible and transparent card or base 10 is placed on and over the map M, which is visible therethrough and is then moved on the map until the desired letter or symbol 17 of the card is positioned over the portion of the map on which it is desired to form and apply such symbol. In such position, if necessary, through the medium of the adjacent lines 11 and/ or 12, the symbol 17 can be accurately and exactly located with respect to a desiredline or mark on the drawing which is visible through the transparent card. With the'base or card 10 in position to properly locate the symbol defining grooves 14: of a symbol 17 these grooves being contrasted visually with the body of the card and'the map or drawing being visible through the card, the symbol will appear in position on the drawing as that of the symbol when applied and formed thereon. Then by holding the card at one end and flexing the card up by the other end from the drawing, a transfer medium such as a piece of carbon paper G (See Figs. 1, 2 and 3) is slipped under the card beneath'the desiredsymbol 17, and a'stylus S of any desired type, such for example as a pointed hard lead pencil, is inserted in and moved through the grooves 14 under pressure. Due to the yielding, flexible, or elastic character of the material of which card 10 is formed, and the relatively thin na ture of the bottom walls 16 of the grooves,

these walls 16 will give or yield at the point of stylus contact and transmit the stylus pressure to the carbon paper C, to form the de sired character or symbol onthe surface of the'map M orother work,'as will be readily apparent. In an exaggerated degree the yield'or give of'the'groovewalls' 16 is indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, and by such formation of the groove walls, a clear cut, accurate and exact duplication of the symbol 17 defined by grooves 14 is reproduced or formed on the 7 map 17. When forming words or a series of symbols or characters the scales 19 are employed for justifying or properly spacing the letters, a mark being made from a scale. point after forming a letter by which a line 11 can be located to properly space thenext formed letter. c

In 3 of the drawings amodifiedform and construction of character defining grooves or depressions 1 is shown, in which no embossing or projection of the grooves is present on the under side of card 10, but in which the lower or inner walls 16' by which stylus pressure is transmitted are flush with or in the plane of the card under surface. The operation and use of this form is the same as that described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

IOU

Attention is here directed to the fact that any transfer medium can be employed, such for example as ink. Where ink is used, the ink can be applied to the characters or symbols formed on the under side of the instrument by inserting a small thin pad under the instrument toindividually ink a character, or several characters may be inked at once by the use of a pad of the required size, and by suit able pressure applied to the instrument a character or characters are transferred and formed on the desired surface. By slightly raising the instrument above a surface, such as paper, after inking of the characters, the

' elimin ated, as explained hereinbefore. While the instrument is particularly adapted to drawing or drafting work, it is also of use in the arts generally, such for example in forming engra-vers copy on metal, designs on glass, stencil work and many others. The car form of the invention shown is of course merely an .example, as the instruments can take various other forms, or the character defining grooves or depressions can be formed on and in drawing or other implements,

formed of suitable materials, such as the well known straight edges, triangles, or the like, formed of pyroxylin or celluloid, and though desirous, transparency is not an essential characteristic where accurate positioning is not required.

It is also evident that various other changes, variations, modifications and substitutions might be resorted to Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not desire to limit myself to the exact and specific disclosures hereof.

Desiring to protect my invention in th broadest manner legally possible, what I claim is: Y

1. In a drawing instrument, a body member formed with symbol defining depressions therein having the bottom walls of lessthickbottom walls.

'tions bearing thereon.

ness than that of the body, for receiving and transmitting stylus pressure through said 2. In a drawing instrument, a body member in the form of a plate or strlp of flexible,

transparent and yieldable material, said' member provided with symbol defining [depressions therein for receiving and guiding a stylus, and the bottom walls of saiddepressions .:onstructed and arranged to yield under stylus pressure to, transmit such pressure to a surface on which the member is placed.

8. In a drawinginstrument, a body member formed with symbol definingdepressions through one side thereof and corresponding projections from the opposite sides thereof, the bottom walls of the depressions formed Joy the projectionsbeingof less thicknessthan' that of the member so as to-yield under stylus pressure and-transmit such pressure to a surface against whicht-he projections are placed. 4. As a new article of manufacture, a strip of flexible transparent material having symbol defining depressions therein whose-bottom wallsare yicldable under stylus pressure at the point of stylus contact to transmit such pressure to a surface on which saidvstrip is placed. .1: v 5. As a new article of manufacture, a strip of flexible, transparent. material having a symbol defined thereon by projections from one sidethereof providing stylus receiving and guiding grooves on the opposite side thereof, said projections yieldable under stylus pressure at the pointof stylus contact to trasmit the stylus pressure to a surface on which the strip is placed with the projec- Signed at Auburn, New York, this14tl1 day of Jul 1927 I I v v,

DAVID M. DUNNING, JR. 

